Motivation

This section will give specific meaning and purpose to the terms; Motivation, Expectations, and Supportive Environments. After completing this section, users will be able to transfer this information into their own learning situations in order to evaluate their current practices.

What is Motivation?We often hear and use the term "motivation," but how do we determine if someone is motivated? What do we do to motivate someone? Consider two stories of instructors who were unsuccessful in motivating their students. One of the instructors had an opportunity to teach a course that was of great interest to him. His planning and presentation of the course material was all centered around his area of interest. The second example describes an instructor that decides to "challenge" his students by telling them that a third of them would fail. This technique motivated him as a student, and therefore he believes that it will work in his class too. Both of these instructors had good intentions, but their approach was all wrong. Their lack of success was a result of them centering their class around what works for them instead of what will work best for their individual students. Unfortunately, when our tactics to motivate students to learn don't work, we often deem the student to be lazy or uninterested. This can result in a student who is further disengaged, leading to poor performance, behavior problems, and lack of attendance.

Where Do I Start?Motivation starts with a personal investment that one has in completing a task or a desired goal. In regards to learning, student motivation generates, directs, and sustains what they learn. As students get older, there are more demands on their time, and they may have more interests outside of the classroom. In order for learning to continue to be a priority, students must find value in it and dedicate time out of their day to pursue it. A subjective value of the class coupled with an expectation for success are key to students being motivated to learn.

Goals!​Motivation starts out with having a goal. Without an end in mind, it is difficult to determine what someone is motivated to do. It is nearly impossible to just bemotivated. Goals are ultimately determined by the individual student. When the teacher's goals for the student differ from the goals they have for themselves it can be hard for the student to become motivated to learn. A variety of factors define what type of goal or goals a student is working to attain.

Performance goals are focused on normative standards for the course. Generally speaking, they are met by doing what is necessary to demonstrate competence. A student's performance goals are sometimes just to get a grade and "move on", and not to gain new knowledge and understanding. Ambrose et al. believe (as cited in Elliot, 1999; Elliot & McGregor, 2001) that performance goals can be divided into two categories: performance-approach goals and performance-avoidant goals. Students with performance-approach goals try to show competence by meeting standards while students with performance-avoidant goals try to avoid incompetence by meeting the same standards. Restated, students with performance-approach use norm standards as their goal, while performance-avoidant students meet the norm standards to in order to not be incompetent. Research (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Cury et al., 2006) tells us that performance-approach goals are more successful than performance-avoidance goals.

Learning goals are guided by a desire to learn from a task or activity in addition to demonstrating competency. Learning goals are what teachers desire for students to have since they often require students to use study strategies that result in deeper understanding of material. Additionally, students with learning goals are more willing to seek assistance, seek challenges, and continue to try when faced with difficulties. Problems arise when the teacher's goal for students is a learning goal, but the student's is only a performance goal since the intended outcomes of the lesson differ.

Work-avoidant goals are present when students finish work as quickly as possible and put forth little to no effort. While students guided by this type of goal may seem unmotivated or uninterested, these same students may excel in other subjects. Work-avoidant goals can be very subject area driven. This point often goes back to the perceived relevancy of a class to the student. A student who enjoys painting will study and work very hard (have learning goals) in an art class, but may do just the minimum in a math class.

Differing and Multiple Goals?​It is very possible that students and teachers have different sets of goals. While at first this would seem to be a problem, it can be a positive. The goals of each can work to complement each other and therefore create valuable learning opportunities. An example of this would be a student whose goal is to become a police officer learns that the skill of writing is important to have when he needs file a report. The student's goals of becoming a police officer works with the goal his writing teacher has for him to be a better writer. There is likely to be occasions where the student and or the teacher have multiple goals for their class or themselves. Students often have academic goals (performance or learning), but may also have social goals and affective goals. It is important for the student and teacher to recognize when this occurs, and to help prioritize each goal in order to maintain or achieve success. An example of this would be a student who wants to learn about a new topic in class (learning goal), but is also striving to make more friends (social goal), and enjoys the hands on projects. The teacher could accommodate all of this student's goals by assigning lab work to be done in groups.Having multiple goals can cause students difficulties and internal struggles as they are often forced to prioritize their goals, sometimes leaving one unmet. A student who has an exam the next day and wants to do well (academic goal), has tickets to a concert the night before the exam (affective), and is hoping to take his new girlfriend to the concert (social goal) will have a tough time prioritizing what has the most value to him. It would be nearly impossible to meet all of his goals. Our students are faced with this dilemma very often when juggling school, social and family activities.

Decisions, Decisions.​When students are faced with multiple goals they want to achieve, they must determine what is most important to them based on the goal's subjective value. This value is determined by the amount of satisfaction one feels from attaining a new skill, the intrinsic value of the goal (pride in accomplishment), and the extrinsic value of the goal (reward). When confronted with the decision of what goal to pursue, students are motivated to pursue the one that provides the most overall value to them. Because of this, it is important for teachers to know what makes their students "tick," and work to keep them motivated by utilizing various strategies that I will outline later.

Expectations​In order for motivation to occur, one has to have the expectation of a positive outcome. It is nearly impossible to get excited or be motivated about something when you don't believe that it will turn out the way that you want it. Look at various sports teams that consistently finish in last place. Over time, the fans and organization believe that the same outcome will continue to happen. Raising expectations is not always an easy thing to do, but it is vital to motivating one's self and others in order to have a chance at success. A student's belief that if they do all of their assignments, and participate in class activities, they will do well is an example of a positive outcome expectation. On the other hand, if they feel like they have no chance to succeed regardless of how hard they work, they will likely give little effort for that activity and apply themselves to something else. It is important for teachers to maintain a high level of positive outcome expectations in their classrooms. Doing so will help improve student achievement in their class, improve overall positive attitude about school, and can reduce incidents of misbehavior in class. Along with positive expectations from the teacher, predictors of student success is prior experiences in similar situations. It is believed that not only the overall success or lack thereof influence one's expectations, but the perceived reasons for previous success or lack thereof can greatly impact the chances for current and future success.

Perceived Learning Environment​One's expectations, value and motivation are all affected by the overall environment of the classroom and the school. Have you ever walked into a school or classroom and known right away that it was positive or negative? Such a feeling for students can enhance or ruin their overall feeling about their class, regardless of their ability or the value they place on the class. Motivation, as we have defined it, only occurs when students value the content, believe they can do the work, AND the environment is supportive, Ambrose et al. (as cited in Hansen, 1989 & Ford 1992).

The following are examples of each type of student identified on the chart: Evading- Daydreamer, will do the work but is bored.Rejecting- Apathetic, passively disengaged or disruptive.Hopeless- Low levels of motivation, no expectation for success.Fragile- Quiet, avoids participation, makes excuses for poor performance.Defiant- Will complete tasks in spite of the teacher, or to spite the teacher. Negative attitude.Motivated- Seek challenges and opportunities to learn.

Strategies for Success with Motivation, Value and Expectations#1. Connect material to students' interest. Choosing topics or resources because the teacher likes them, or because they are comfortable with them are not justifiable, and often lead to student boredom or disengagement.

#2. Provide real world, relevant tasks. Students are more likely to be motivated if they see a purpose for the topic of discussion or assigned work. Tasks that either directly relate to, or ones that complement students' interests have the best chance at success.

#3. Relate your material to other academic subject areas. Classes taught in isolation of each other tend to prevent students from seeing the relevance of their classes to one another. Make connections between your class and other classes that students are taking. Doing so may peak their interest in your class and improve their overall motivation.

#4. Make mention of skills that students are learning and using in your class, and how they connect to potential future careers. Students (and teachers) tend to focus on the academic standards of their classes and can easily forget of not have time to address how "real life" skills acquired will help them later in life.

#5. Let students know what you value and how you will reward it when you see it. Students (like anyone) appreciate knowing what they should expect from their teacher and how it will be recognized or rewarded (especially important for those extrinsically motivated).

#6. Be enthusiastic about your subject and your job. Students are perceptive and can benefit from their teachers' positive vibes.

#7. Have goals, lessons, and assessments all relate to what you want students to know and be able to do.

#8. Know your students' strengths, abilities and interests in order to set appropriate goals and effectively motivate them. Create assignments that will maintain their engagement and motivation.

#9. Give students a chance to succeed early on in order to develop positive expectations. Early failure can lead to students losing motivation or seeing little value in your class.

#10. Provide students with rubrics, specific feedback, and fair assessments of their work that are aligned with the communicated goals ofthe class.

#11. Provide students with strategies for effective study, especially if they experience failure. Continuing on and not addressing student needs is not going to help students for the next assignment.

#12. Give students a chance to self-assess their work. Allowing them to do so forces them to think and identify the value of their work, and can improve motivation.

Most, if not all of us, have encountered an unmotivated student in our teaching careers. Lack of motivation knows no age, gender, of socioeconomic boundaries. It's based on factors described in this section about how an individual perceives the importance and relevance of a task.

In the discussions area, please share ways have you found to motivate "the unmotivated"? Please include a little about them (no names of course) and how you were able to reach them.​​Use the "Discussions" button to the left to take you to the "Knowledge" forum, and share your thoughts.